Strawberries are well on their way to becoming California’s newest celebrity as indicated by the two strawberries-related stories that have been much in the news in California this year. First, there have been serious disagreements between a university and the scientist running the university’s strawberry breeding program to the extent of the media labeling it as a feud (see links to stories below). The second debate formed around the use of certain pesticides in California. This led to California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation establishing the the nation’s strictest limits on chloropicrin, a pesticide commonly injected into soil before strawberries are planted. (Links to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation page and their chloropicrin page.) Both stories are causing much interest and concern in the strawberry-growing community.

When I am fortunate enough to buy a new car, one of my pleasures in the new car is the pure joy of sitting inside it and smelling that lovely mix of luxury and brand-new materials. Have you ever wondered what that new car smell is actually? Well, you’re in luck, as in this post, I will present a recently released thermal desorptionGC-MS method for the analysis of air in new cars but also talk a little about legislations around the globe to monitor and control the air quality inside a new car plus if these emissions are safe.

After Paul Dewsbury's informative and educational blog post, ICP-MS Arsenic Speciation in Rice: The Media and The Science, (link to post), I came across a recently released application for the identification and quantitation of biomarkers in rice for improving crossbreeding that I found fascinating for several reasons. One is because rice is one of my favorite foods in all its forms ranging from simple steamed rice to complex South Asian biryanis and I enjoy it in pretty much any cuisine that I have encountered it; second, the importance of rice as a nutritional source for humans; and third, the application itself.

The access to clean, uncontaminated water has become one of the challenges of modern life around the globe as with increased industrial activities from developing countries, as well as the existing activities in developed countries with more and more industrial pollutants have been poured into nature and hence have negatively affected our water quality. Never before, have we had to pay so much attention to the quality of drinking, surface, and ground water that directly influence our daily lives. In addition, marine water monitoring and wastewater treatment has also become much critical in protecting human health.

Did you know that more than 90% of human exposure to highly toxic dioxins is through food, mainly meat and dairy products, fish and shellfish? (Link & source WHO page on dioxins.) A little about dioxins in case you are not familiar with these chemicals. Dioxins are a group of chemically-related compounds, including polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and some dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) which are formed by waste incineation, forest fires, and backyard trash burning. These compounds are classified as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) as they are highly toxic and bioaccumulate in food chains, mainly in the fatty tissues of animals. Exposure to dioxins is known to cause developmental problems, damage to the immune system, dysregulation of hormone levels and cancer.

It has been a while since I have featured chromatography research studies in the field of plant physiology and when I checked the list of peer-reviewed articles from my HighWire subscription, I found I had several fascinating GC-MS studies that would be of interest to our blog readers. So here goes!